There’s no evidence to substantiate claims that coyotes caused a horse to fall or that they were chasing other horses in northern Oxford Township, according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
‘As far as we are concerned both (investigations) are closed unless some new evidence (is found) or something new comes up,? said Tim Payne, the DNR’s Southeast Michigan Wildlife Supervisor.
That was the final word from Payne regarding the incidents at the Oxford horse farm in which the owners, Dr. Bruce and Kallie Meyers, claim coyotes caused the death of one horse on Jan. 25 and the severe injury of another on Jan. 30.
With regard to the Jan. 25. incident, Payne said DNR staff talked with everyone they believe might have first-hand knowledge and none of them actually witnessed anything.
‘Nobody saw a coyote bring down the horse. Nobody saw a coyote biting at the horse when it was down,? he said. ‘In talking to people that were coming out of the house (at the time of the incident) they didn’t see coyotes on the horse or see (the Meyers?) dogs fighting coyotes. What the dogs fought with, I can’t tell you.?
Kallie Meyers, who didn’t witness the incident, claimed a pack of coyotes attacked her 27-year-old Argentine thoroughbred and wounded it so severely that the mare had to be euthanized at her farm, located at the northeast corner of Delano and Oakwood roads.
Based on what she observed at the scene, she speculated the horse slipped on the ice in the paddock while trying to fend off the wild canine predators and when the mare fell to the ground, they fed on her.
Meyers said her dogs chased the coyotes away and one of them was injured while fighting with the coyotes.
Meyers doesn’t believe the DNR talked to everyone it should have as part of its investigation such as her friend and neighbor Janine Klayman, of Metamora Township, who arrived on the scene while the injured horse was still alive and on the ground. She heard coyote vocalizations in a nearby treeline.
‘Witnesses clearly heard the coyotes yipping close (by) while this was all going on,? she said. ‘People heard the coyotes at the scene at the time and they (the DNR) don’t think that’s pertinent??
Although the DNR did not interview her, Klayman sent a written statement to the agency last week.
She described in great detail what she saw and heard at the scene.
‘When I got there, I saw her older mare, down on the ground, blood splattered everywhere, in three different locations, 6 to 7 feet apart from each other in the same general area . . . It looked like there had been a series of bloody attacks/struggles,? Klayman wrote. ‘Her blanket was lacerated in multiple places? her mane, tail and forelock were ripped savagely from her head, neck and tail and scattered across all three struggle areas.?
Klayman went on to describe in graphic detail the part of the horse which appeared to her to have been ‘savagely eaten away at.?
‘Did I see coyotes attacking, mutilating, or savagely eating this mare from the back to the front? No,? she wrote. ‘Whatever attacked her repeatedly, in three separate areas, was gone by the time we got there. But the signs of the attack, the struggle, and blood, hair, flesh and fur were everywhere. So unless we have some other kind of wild vicious animal in this area . . . or unless other neighbors reported that their dogs returned home covered in blood ? the most obvious conclusion is that the coyotes we could hear . . . did it.?
Klayman noted how coyotes had previously killed poultry on Meyers? farm and had been spotted on her property before and after the incident.
In addition to Klayman’s statements, Meyers noted while they were tending to the wounded horse, her father saw a coyote running from her property just before he turned into her driveway.
‘The coyote ran right in front of my dad’s car,? she said. ‘Witnesses saw the coyotes fleeing the scene at the time.?
Based on the available evidence, Payne said the DNR cannot make a determination as to what caused the old horse to fall.
‘I still do not believe coyotes are what brought the horse down,? he said.
But it’s clear that after the horse fell, ‘something bit at it and we don’t know what,? he said.
‘The biting activity is consistent with what coyotes or dogs might do with an animal on the ground,? said Payne, who was only able to view photographs of the horse’s wounds.
The DNR could not examine the body to determine what bit at it because the horse was buried the day after the incident.
It’s ‘within the realm of possibility,? said Payne, that while the horse was on the ground, coyotes, seeing it as a potential food source, might have taken advantage of the situation given their ‘opportunistic? nature.
But in the end, based on the evidence and information that was available, Payne said, ‘We really do not know what happened.?
According to the DNR website, ‘some coyotes learn to kill smaller livestock, such as sheep, goats, calves and poultry,? but ‘larger animals are almost always consumed as carrion.?
Carrion is the flesh of dead animals.
In her statement to the DNR, Klayman noted she’s owned horse farms in rural areas with coyotes for more than 30 years and she’s ‘never experienced anything? like the incident at the Meyers? farm.
‘So like everyone else, I know a coyote attack, in broad daylight, in an open area, where there are other large animals, is A-typical behavior,? she wrote. ‘But I also know for a fact that the coyotes are getting bolder, and that some will make a bid for a larger animal in broad daylight because it happened to me.?
Klayman went on to describe how coyotes tried to go after her dog, a Doberman Pinscher/Greyhound mix, while in Clarkston.
As for the Jan. 30 incident, the Meyers? claimed coyotes were causing their horses to run out of fear and one of them, a 7-year-old thoroughbred mare, tore her side on a gate hinge, resulting in a lengthy and severe gash. The mare is still recuperating.
‘There’s no evidence that coyotes were actively chasing the horses based on the tracks,? Payne said. ‘We did not find any evidence of tracks that would substantiate that (claim).?
Kallie Meyers disagrees. She contends coyote tracks were found well within her pasture indicating ‘they were literally pressing the horses into a corner.?
Prior to the horse’s injury, the horses had been running around the pasture like something was chasing them, she said. When Bruce Meyers went out to investigate, he spotted a coyote and shot at it, but missed.